Grateful Dead co-founding member Bobby Weir has died aged 78.
The rhythm guitarist, singer and songwriter, who helped steer the pioneering California jam band through decades of evolution, passed away after a battle with cancer and underlying lung issues, according to a statement posted to Instagram by his daughter Chloe Weir on Friday (January 9):
"It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of Bobby Weir. He transitioned peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, after courageously beating cancer as only Bobby could. Unfortunately, he succumbed to underlying lung issues.
"For over sixty years, Bobby took to the road. A guitarist, vocalist, storyteller, and founding member of the Grateful Dead. Bobby will forever be a guiding force whose unique artistry reshaped American music. His work did more than fill rooms with music; it was warm sunlight that filled the soul, building a community, a language, and a feeling of family that generations of fans carry with them. Every chord he played, every word he sang was an integral part of the stories he wove. There was an invitation: to feel, to question, to wander, and to belong.
"Bobby’s final months reflected the same spirit that defined his life. Diagnosed in July, he began treatment only weeks before returning to his hometown stage for a three-night celebration of 60 years of music at Golden Gate Park. Those performances, emotional, soulful, and full of light, were not farewells, but gifts. Another act of resilience. An artist choosing, even then, to keep going by his own design. As we remember Bobby, it’s hard not to feel the echo of the way he lived. A man driftin’ and dreamin’, never worrying if the road would lead him home. A child of countless trees. A child of boundless seas.
"There is no final curtain here, not really. Only the sense of someone setting off again. He often spoke of a three-hundred-year legacy, determined to ensure the songbook would endure long after him. May that dream live on through future generations of Dead Heads. And so we send him off the way he sent so many of us on our way: with a farewell that isn’t an ending, but a blessing. A reward for a life worth livin’.
"His loving family, Natascha, Monet, and Chloe, request privacy during this difficult time and offer their gratitude for the outpouring of love, support, and remembrance. May we honor him not only in sorrow, but in how bravely we continue with open hearts, steady steps, and the music leading us home. Hang it up and see what tomorrow brings."
Born Robert Hall Parber in October 1947, Weir began playing guitar at the age of 13, leading him to perform bluegrass music at folk clubs across San Francisco during the city's early folk and bluegrass scene. He met the late Jerry Garcia at the legendary Palo Alto club Tangent in 1963, with the pair performing as the Warlocks before evolving into the Grateful Dead in 1965.
The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and later received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007, and a lifetime achievement recognition as part of the Kennedy Center Honors in 2024.
Weir, who contributed to all Grateful Dead recordings, also founded and played in several bands during and after his time with the Dead, and released several solo studio albums throughout his career, the most recent being 2016's 'Blue Mountain'. In 2022, he put out two live records, 'Live In Colorado' and 'Live In Colorado Vol. 2', featuring recordings from four concerts his band Wolf Bros played in Colorado in 2021.
In 2015, he co-founded Dead And Company, performing Grateful Dead material alongside fellow Grateful Dead member Mickey Hart, as well as John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, Jeff Chimenti and Jay Lane. Last year, the rock supergroup reunited for their Dead Forever residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas, celebrating their 10th anniversary.
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